Hair dryer

ABSTRACT

A portable hair dryer which includes a base, a head supporting assembly, and a dryer head assembly which automatically increases in volume when unlocked from a storage configuration. The dryer head assembly includes a generally annular air distribution plenum therein for receiving drying air and directing it generally radially inwardly, and a hood or cover which is pivotally mounted in respect to the annular plenum. The portable hair dryer is of the hard-hat type having the general configuration of an articulated, collapsible Z, and the entire base and head supporting assembly nests for storage within the head assembly, even though the volume of the head assembly is substantially smaller in the storage configuration than in the expanded or raised operating configuration. Upon being unlocked from the nested storage configuration, the hood or cover is automatically raised with respect to the plenum to increase the volume within the head assembly for receiving a greater portion of the head of the user in the head assembly. The cover is automatically lowered with respect to the plenum when the unit is locked into a nested storage position with the hood closely overlying the plenum to provide an effective dust and contamination shield. In a preferred embodiment, a vent gap between the hood and plenum is automatically created at the upper-front region of the user&#39;&#39;s head space. A non-jamming latch mechanism automatically pivots the shell to the raised position.

vUnited States Patent [191 artram et al.

HAIR DRYER [75] lnventors: NialC. Bartram, Lancaster; William J. Scheid,Leola, both of Pa.

[73] Assignee: Schick Incorporated, Lancaster, Pa. [22] Filed: Oct. 11,1972 [21] Appl. No.: 296,544

[51] Int. Cl. A45d 20/24 [58] Field of Search 34/90, 91, 96-101, 34/239;267/160, 164

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,513,563 5/1970 Ziegler34/99 3,645,007 2/1972 Scott 34/99 Primary Examiner-Kenneth W. SpragueAssistant Examiner1ames C. Yeung Attorney-Fred S. Lockwood et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A portable hair dryer which includes a base, a headsupporting assembly, and a dryer head assembly which automaticallyincreases in volume when unlocked from a storage configuration. Thedryer head assembly Oct. 9, 1973 includes a generally annular airdistribution plenum therein for receiving drying air and directing itgenerally radially inwardly, and a hood or cover which is pivotallymounted in respect to the annular plenum.

The portable hair dryer is of the hard-hat type having the generalconfiguration of an articulated, collapsible Z, and the entire base andhead supporting assembly nests for storage within the head assembly,even though the volume of the head assembly is substantially smaller inthe storage configuration than in the expanded or raised operatingconfiguration.

In a preferred embodiment, a vent gap between the hood and plenum isautomatically created at the upper-front region of the users head space.A non-jamming latch mechanism automatically pivots the shell to theraised position.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures a, 7 9s 27 I22 I I O l I24 0 O f I I] t 26PAIENIEDnm sum SHEET 10F 3 PATENTEU 9 973 SHEET 2 OF 3 IUD 1 HAIR DRY'ERThe present invention relates generally to hair dryers of the hard-hattype having the configuration of an articulated, collapsable Z. Itrelates particularly to an improvement providing automatic expansion ofthe head assembly when the dryer isreleased from storage configurationand automatic reduction in the volume of the headassembly when the dryeris locked in storage configuration.

The present invention relates to those hair dryers having a rigid headassembly which includes portions adapted to surround at least a portionof the head of the user. Such hard-hat dryers are distinguishable fromother dryers, such as dryers having flexible bags, or caps, whichsurround the head of the user, and which includes a flexible hose-likeconduit extending between the cap and a blower for heated air, and fromdryers of hand-held type wherein no means are provided for surroundingany substantial portion of the head of the user.

Although hair dryers of both the hand-held type and the flexible captype having proven acceptable to the trade, it is well known that hairdryers having rigid drying heads or hood units are superior in use,principally becuase they are sufficiently rigid to contain fixedphysical structures which serve to direct the air to desired portions ofthe hair of the user in accordance with a predetermined pattern.Recently, hair dryers of the rigid head or hard-hat type have becomerelatively common home appliances and have achieved a certain currencybecause they have been able to be manufactured and sold at reasonableprices. Such dryers are generally designed so as to overcome thedrawbacks associated with commercial or heavy-duty hair dryers, namely,substantial mass, lack of portability, and requirement of use ofsubstantial amounts of electric current.

The present invention can be regarded as an improvement over the dryerswhich are disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 229,763, filedFeb. 28, I972 by Robert S. Waters, Edward J. Doyle, Meyric K. Rogers andNial C. Bartram, and assigned to a common assignee with the presentinvention. The hard-hat dryer disclosed in that patent applicationprovides a head assembly and a base, each of which are respectivelypivotally mounted at the opposite ends of the head mounting assembly onparallel, horizontal axes so that the base and the head assembly can bepivoted to nest the base and head mounting assembly within the headassembly, or opened into the general configuration of a Z withoutrequiring dismantling or separation and reassembly of the dryer.

In the dryers described in the aforementioned patent application, thehead assembly included an upper shell disposed above and about agenerally annular plenum, and this shell is pivotally mounted on aseparate horizontal axis to expand the volume generally enclosed by theannular plenum and shell assembly.

An important feature of that construction is that the plenum is ofsubstantially annular construction, rather than hemisphericalconstruction, although openings in the annular plenum at the top innerportions thereof directed hot dry air obliquely upwardly toward theupper extremes of the enclosure within the shell.

It is desirable to provide a dryer configuration in which the headassembly which will occupy the necesof relatively large curlers, forexample.

In the heretofore available dryers having the hemispheric plenumconfiguration, all the hot dry air is generally directed downwardly andinwardly to the head of the user from all directions within thehemisphere, and the moisture-laden air, even that moisture-laden airwhich is above the head of the user, must be vented downwardly adjacentthe face of the user. An important advantage of the annularplenum-expanding shell dryer structure is the fact that the latterpermits sweeping of dry air upwardly over the hair, and also permits theoption of venting moisture-laden air above the users head that is, abovethe plenum, through the upper structures, rather than downwardlyadjacent the face of the user. In one of the embodiments described inthe aforementioned patent application, a special vent door is providedby which the user may elect not to vent, or to increase the venting, inthe upper regions within the plenum-cover enclosure. However, thespecific embodiment described in the aforementioned application requiredthe manual adjustment, by the user, of the plenum-cover assembly toconvert the plenumcover assembly to the configuration in which the coveris raised. There was a tendency on the part of the user to commence theuse of the dryer without raising the cover to the raised configuration,thus providing no venting whatsoever in the upper regions above the ovalplenum, and providing minimized head space for penetration of the user'shead between plenum outlets.

It is now appreciated that at least some upward venting in a hard-hatdryer having an annular or oval, rather than hemispheric, plenum shiftsthe drying pattern at least slightly to better assure complete anduniform drying of the top regions within the plenum-cover enclosure, yetproviding permanently open vent openings in the shell would seriouslydiminish its effectiveness as a dust and contamination shield when theunit is in storage.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hooded dryer ofthe hard-hat type having an annular plenum cover and combination whichautomatically assures raising of the hood to automatically increase thevolume of the head assembly and provide at least a minimal venting ofthe enclosed space above the pienum.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a hard hatdryer of the hinged Z-configuration in which the head assemblyautomatically expands to a relatively large volume immediately uponbeing unlocked from a nested storage configuration in which the volumeof the head assembly is automatically re- FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating-a hard-hat dryer which is improved in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the dryer shown in FIG. 1 locked instorage configuration.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the dryer shown in FIG. 2 with theshell automatically pivoted to the raised configuration after the dryeris unlocked from storage configuration.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the dryer while inthe configuration shown in FIG. 2 through the left end portion of FIG.2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the dryer while in theconfiguration shown in FIG. 3, through the left end of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximatelyalong the line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximatelyalong the line 77 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Although itwill be understood that the invention may be embodied in a number ofdifferent forms, a description thereof will be made with reference to anembodiment wherein a head assembly, which includes a pivotally mountedcover surrounding the upper portion of a generally annular or ovalplenum is automatically pivoted to an expanded condition when the dryeris unlocked from the collapsed storage configuration. For storage andtransportation, the cover or shell portion of the head is moveddownwardly automatically to a position closely overlying the plenum, andthe head mounting unit is pivoted relative to the base as well as to thehead assembly to permit both the head and the base mounting unit to bereceived within the head assembly and retained therein with the movablymounted plenum cover being in a collapsed configuration, and retained inthat configuration by the storage lock mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows theinvention to be embodied in a dryer assembly generally designated by thenumeral 10 having a head assembly 12 pivotally mounted atop a headmounting assembly 14, the lower portion of which forms an impellerhousing 16 received within a base unit 18. The head assembly 12 includesan upper cover or shell 20 which closely overlies the exterior wallportion 22 of a somewhat elongated, generally annular, drying airdistribution plenum 24 having a plurality of radially inwardly directedopenings 2626 and 27 --27 therein.

The base assembly 18 includes a pair of legs 2828, each having alouvered annular inlet openings 30-30 for fresh air, and each having atray assembly 32 associated therewith for receiving pins, curlers, orthe like. The front wall 34 of the base assembly 18 includes an edgeportion 36 of reduced height, permitting'the neck portion 38 of the headmounting unit 14 to be placed in various positions with respect thereto.

In operation, air is drawn through openings 30 by impellers (not shown)in impeller housing 16 and is forced through the hollow portion of headmounting assembly 14 into plenum 24. FIG. 2 shows the dryer 10 locked instorage configuration and FIG. 3 shows the unit 10 unlocked with shell20 pivoted about horizontal pivot line 40 to the raised configuration.The dryer unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 may be collapsed for storage as shownin FIG. 2 by pivoting the cover or shell 20 about a horizontallydisposed pivot and by pivoting head support element around a centralaxis of annular openings 30, to lower the cover 20 to a position whereinthe lower edge 42 of cover 20 closely overlies an upper locating edge 44formed in the wall 22 of plenum 24. This provides an effective enclosurewherein shell 20 shields the elements nested within the plenum from dustand other contamination during storage. It will be appreciated from aconsideration of FIG. 2, when dryer 10 is in storage configuration thatthe bottom surface (not shown) of base unit 18 lies at leastapproximately flush with and closely adjacent the bottom 50 of the lowershell 22. Also, the configuration of bottom 40 of base 18 can be suchthat it serves as a bottom cover for head assembly 120. By reason of thedesign of the principal elements l2, l4 and 18 of dryer 10, the profilerepresented by the unit 10 in the retracted or collapsed conditionthereof as shown in FIG. 3 is much lower than the profile able to beachieved with dryers of other designs.

The dryer which is improved in accordance with the present invention canbe regarded as having the configuration of an articulated Z, that is, ahinged, collapsible, nestable Z in which the base element 18 and the lidelement 12 can be considered to be generally horizontally disposed endportions of the hinged Z and wherein the head support element 14 can beconsidered to be the middle portion of the hinged Z. The hood supportelement 14, and the base portion 28 are, as a consequence of thestructural relationships described hereinbefore, completely retractableor nestable within the head assembly 12.

Details of the hinging and locking mechanisms which can be used in thehinged Z configuration hard-hat type hair dryers do not constitute apart of the novel aspects of the present invention, and details of animminently satisfactory construction for hinging and locking therelative positions of the elements l2, l4 and 18 in operationconfigurations or in a storage configuration are found in theaforementioned copending Pat. application Ser. No. 229,763 filed Apr.28, 1972 for Hair Dryer, said application being assigned to a commonassignee with the present application.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, elements relating to the plenum 22 and shell 12 andclosely associated elements are shown. In FIG. 4, an enlargedfragmentary cross-sectional view of the plenum 24, the upper shell 20,and a curved portion 60 of the head mounting assembly 14 are shown. Therelative position of the structural elements shown in FIG. 4 correspondsto the position of these elements when in the configuration illustratedin FIG. 2, that is, when the dryer 10 is in collapsed, retracted, orstorage configuration.

In FIG. 2, the locking assembly 69 is shown in the locked condition.This unit 62 includes a handle member 64 having an associated shankportion 66 received within an opening 68 of the top portion 70 of cover20. A stiff fastener element, such as a metal stud 72 is pressed fit orotherwise secured into the shank 66. An oblong head 74 forms the lowerend of the fastener 72. The oblong head portion 74 of the fastener 72 isadapted to be received within an opening 76 and defined between oppositelegs 78-78 of a latch assembly generally designated 80 and located on anouter surface portion of the impeller housing 16. Upon rotating handle64 one-quarter turn, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 5 isobtained, after the latch head 74 passes through the openings of thelatch mechanism 80 to release cover 20 from the impeller housing 16.This frees the base unit 18 to be moved from its position of storageinside the head assembly 12. Also, in accordance with the presentinvention, unlocking of the locking assembly 62 automatically frees thecover, or upper shell 20 to be biased upwardly into the expanded orraised configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 and 5. Thus, cover 22 ismounted for pivotal movement about pivot 40, and, in accordance withthis invention, a biased latch assembly generally designated 86 isprovided to move cover 20 between the positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 5automatically upon unlocking of the storage lock mechanism. Thisassembly 86 includes a latch unit 88 having a flange 90 on the topthereof, through which is received a fastener 92 pressed within a recess94 in the front wall 96 of shell 20. The body of the latch unit 88includes a pair of stiff but resilient oppositely directed fingers 9898'near the bottom thereof. Spaced apartfrom the ends of the fingers 9898are a pair of oppositely directed shoulders 102-104 with spaces 106-108being defined between the respective shoulders 102-104 and respectivefingers 98-98 for reception of inwardly directed portions 110-112 of topwall 113 defining an opening 114 therein.

Latch assembly 86 can be moved vertically between positionscorresponding to open and closed positions of cover 20 and-body 88 movesin an arcuate path in a vertical plane which is perpendicular to theaxis of rotation of cover 20. The margins 110-112 around the opening 114are received in the notches 106, l08'when body 88 is in the open orraised position. The opening 114 through which the latch unit 88 movesis sized so as just to permit movement of the latch and, accordingly,little or no air leaks from the interior 116 when the cover 20 is in theraised position and little lateral play is permitted the latch member88. The latch unit 88 is preferably made of a stiff but resilientplastic material.

At the lower end 120 of the latch unit 88, a U-shaped spring clip 122confines spring 124 against end 120. Spring 124 is made from anelongated spring wire having a;central shaped portion 126 conformingsubstantially to the shape of end 120 of body 88, and small coupledloops 128-128 at the ends thereof maintain spring 124 substantially inthe general configuration of a closed loop. Clip 129 may be employed tosecure the end loops 128-128 at a point in the same vertical plane whichis perpendicular to the axis of pivot 40 of shell 20, and is below thelowest travel of end 120 when shell 20 is in closed position.Alternatively, spring 124 can be sized in length so that it is confinedwith respect to lateral shifting from the position shown in FIGS. 6 and7 due to the size of the straight end portion 131 of plenum 24. Therelatively stiff character of spring 124' will prevent it from shiftingaround sharp curves within plenum 24.

As indicated in FIGS. 5 and 7, spring 124 has an oblong closed loopconfiguration when shell 20 is in the open or raised position. Shapedmid-portion 126 is depressed to provide bi-laterally symmetrical pair ofopen loops 130-132 when shell 20 is in the closed configurationillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6. It is noted that in the configurationillustrated in FIG. 6, the body 88 is being urged downwardly to generatethe tensioned double open loop configuration shown in FIG. 6. Theopposing bias of spring 124 generated by open loops 128-428 is balanceddue to the bilateral symmetry of the double open looped configuration.As a consequence, the

88 at a point on cover 22 which, because of the pivot- 'ing of cover 22along a substantially horizontal axis,

moves in a vertical plane. This factor, coupled with the closelyconfined movement of body 88 through opening 114, further coupled withthe bilaterally balanced tensioning or biasing of body 88 by spring 124towards the raised configuration, provides a non-jamming biasing meanswhich is emminently satisfactory for the combination of elementsinvolved, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Dryer 10 includes top vent door which can be opened by pivoting door 140around horizontally disposed pivot support means 142 (see FIG. 5). Thus,at the users option, the opening of vent door 140 permits major ventingof that portion of the plenum-cover enclosed region 145 which is mostlikely to be uppennost, that is, highest, when the head assembly 12 isin the operating configuration, such as, for example, that illustratedin FIG. 1.

Furthermore, by automatically raising the cover 20 by means which pivotcover 20 with respect to plenum 24 around a horizontally disposed pivotpoint 40 which is in that region 148 of shell 20 which is adjacent headmounting support 14, and by providing biasing means for pivoting shell20 with respect to plenum 24 at the opposite or free end 150 of shell20, a vent gap 152 between cover 20 and the outer wall 22 of plenum 24occurs at free end 150. 1-Iowever,- although pivoting in this mannerprovides a gap 152 at that free end 150 which is raised, substantiallyno gap is generated at the other end 148 which is pivoted, and which islower than end 150 in most normal operations. This provides a distinctadvantage in that no room temperature air is admitted in the lowerportions of region 145, and no hot air is vented in that lower region,thus enhancing the natural upwardly rising flow of the hot air comingthrough openings 26, 27 through vent 152 out of region 145.

In the illustrated embodiment (see FIG. 5), vent gap 152 is relativelysmall, and it is to be understood that the size of this gap can beincreased or decreased in alternative embodiments, and, furthermore,cover 20 can be pivoted to varying angular extents in alternativeembodiments to increase or decrease the relative change in volume ofregion 145 of head assembly 12 due to the pivotal movement of cover 20with respect to plenum 24.

Numerous other variations and modifications will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art which do not depart from the spirit or scope of thepresent invention which is to be interpreted from the claims.

We claim:

1. A portable hair dryer unit having a hot air distribution plenun ingeneral configuration of a loop with generally radially inwardlydirected air distribution openings therein, and having a shell coverpivotally associated with the top of said plenum, said shell including askirt portion which extends downwardly around at least a portion of saidplenum;

pivot means for pivoting said shell with respect to said plenum toraised and lowered positions; said plenum and shell consituting part ofa head assembly; said dryer also including a head support element and abase assembly; said head assembly, supporting element and base beingarticulated for pivoting with respect to each other around horizontalaxes and for nesting in a configuration in which said support assemblyand said base assembly is received within said plenum and said cover;automatic biasing means for biasing said shell to said raised positionwith respect to said plenum wherein the volume of the region within theplenum and shell is automatically increased, the location of the shellpivot axis and the dimensioning of said plenum and shell being such thata gap is provided between said plenum and said shell when said shell isin said raised position; and locking means for securing said shell tosaid head support element adjacent said base element when said shell isin said lowered position when the dryer is in said nested configuration.2. The hair dryer of claim 1 wherein said biasing means comprises astiff elongated band of resilient material secured at one end thereof tosaid shell at the free end of said shell, said stiff band passingaxially along a perpendicular plane through a closely confined openingin said plenum into the hot air-channel within the interior of saidplenum;

a spring loop secured at a first point thereon to the other end of saidband, said spring loop also being supported within said plenum at saidvertical plane at a second support point which is below the lowermostmovement of the first support point when said shell is in said closedposition, the length of said spring between said first and secondsupport points of said spring being equal whereby equal lengths ofspring material are provided at both sides of each of said pointsbetween said second point of support and said first point of support.

3. The dryer of claim 2 wherein said spring loop is made from a lengthof spring wire which is formed into a generally closed loop by couplingof small closed end loop at each end thereof, wherein said first pointof support is at the middle of said length and wherein the second pointof support is at said coupled small end loops.

4. In combination in a hair dryer having a head assembly, a base andsupport means for supporting said head assembly on said base, saidsupport means pivotally supporting said head assembly at one endthereof, a hot air distribution plenum having the general configurationof a loop with generally radially inwardly directed air distributionopenings therein and having a shell cover pivotally mounted on saidplenum, said shell including a cover portion which covers the top ofsaid plenum, and a skirt portion which extends downwardly around atleast a portion of said plenum, said plenum and shell constituting partof a head assembly;

pivot means for pivoting said shell with respect to said plenum toraised and lowered positions, said pivot means providing a horizontalaxis of pivoting near said one end;

means for nesting said dryer whereby said base and support means arepivoted within said head assembly for storage and said head assembly islocked into said nesting configuration by locking means which secures afree end of said shell to either said support means or said baseassembly while automatically pivoting said shell to said loweredposition with respect to said plenum; and

means responsive to release of said locking mechanism for automaticallypivoting said shell to said raised position with respect to said plenumupon the release of said locking mechanism.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said means for expanding alsoinclude means for opening vent means for releasing air from said headassembly through conduits passing above said plenum.

1. A portable hair dryer unit having a hot air distribution plenun ingeneral configuration of a loop with generally radially inwardlydirected air distribution openings therein, and having a shell coverpivotally associated with the top of said plenum, said shell including askirt portion which extends downwardly around at least a portion of saidplenum; pivot means for pivoting said shell with respect to said plenumto raised and lowered positions; said plenum and shell consituting partof a head assembly; said dryer also including a head support element anda base assembly; said head assembly, supporting element and base beingarticulated for pivoting with respect to each other around horizontalaxes and for nesting in a configuration in which said support assemblyand said base assembly is received within said plenum and said cover;automatic biasing means for biasing said shell to said raised positionwith respect to said plenum wherein the volume of the region within theplenum and shell is automatically increased, the location of the shellpivot axis and the dimensioning of said plenum and shell being such thata gap is provided between said plenum and said shell when said shell isin said raised position; and locking means for securing said shell tosaid head support element adjacent said base element when said shell isin said lowered position when the dryer is in said nested configuration.2. The hair dryer of claim 1 wherein said biasing means comprises astiff elongated band of resilient material secured at one end thereof tosaid shell at the free end of said shell, said stiff band passingaxially along a perpendicular plane through a closely confined openingin said plenum into the hot air-channel within thE interior of saidplenum; a spring loop secured at a first point thereon to the other endof said band, said spring loop also being supported within said plenumat said vertical plane at a second support point which is below thelowermost movement of the first support point when said shell is in saidclosed position, the length of said spring between said first and secondsupport points of said spring being equal whereby equal lengths ofspring material are provided at both sides of each of said pointsbetween said second point of support and said first point of support. 3.The dryer of claim 2 wherein said spring loop is made from a length ofspring wire which is formed into a generally closed loop by coupling ofsmall closed end loop at each end thereof, wherein said first point ofsupport is at the middle of said length and wherein the second point ofsupport is at said coupled small end loops.
 4. In combination in a hairdryer having a head assembly, a base and support means for supportingsaid head assembly on said base, said support means pivotally supportingsaid head assembly at one end thereof, a hot air distribution plenumhaving the general configuration of a loop with generally radiallyinwardly directed air distribution openings therein and having a shellcover pivotally mounted on said plenum, said shell including a coverportion which covers the top of said plenum, and a skirt portion whichextends downwardly around at least a portion of said plenum, said plenumand shell constituting part of a head assembly; pivot means for pivotingsaid shell with respect to said plenum to raised and lowered positions,said pivot means providing a horizontal axis of pivoting near said oneend; means for nesting said dryer whereby said base and support meansare pivoted within said head assembly for storage and said head assemblyis locked into said nesting configuration by locking means which securesa free end of said shell to either said support means or said baseassembly while automatically pivoting said shell to said loweredposition with respect to said plenum; and means responsive to release ofsaid locking mechanism for automatically pivoting said shell to saidraised position with respect to said plenum upon the release of saidlocking mechanism.
 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said means forexpanding also include means for opening vent means for releasing airfrom said head assembly through conduits passing above said plenum.